Playoff Preview: Golden Knights vs Dallas
It's a rematch of the 2020 West Finals! In that series, the Stars took it. Who takes it now...
Once again, this playoff continues to surprise as each of these two teams were widely expected to be out in the 2nd round, but they prevailed. For Dallas, they had to fight a really tough to beat Kraken team that saw really good goaltending from Philip Grubauer. For the Knights, they had to face McDavid and Draisaitl, but they managed to absolutely break Stuart Skinner and outscore the Oilers, advancing here. As I said, this is a rematch of 2020's Bubble Conference Finals, and the Stars took it. The Golden Knights haven't been to the cup finals since their inaugural 2018 season, so these two teams are certainly used to the pressure.
The two who aren't used to these big stages are the goalies. Adin Hill has had to take over the job after Brossoit went down in the middle of the Oilers series, and he has done fantastic. The timeline on Logan Thompson is still muddy, so it looks like the VGK will need to believe in Adin Hill. On the other side, Jake Oettinger is just getting some more fresh playoff experience, and this is his first time past the first round. He had a relatively rough series against the Kraken, in which he was pulled a couple of times and honestly didn't look very good. But, this is still Jake Oettinger, and I don't think he'll be down for long. I think both of these goalies will play pretty well, but obviously, Otter has to get the advantage here.
For defense, these two teams have a really even match. For the Stars, Thomas Harley has been a huge defensive presence, both from the eye test and with analytics. Obviously, they're also going to get huge production out of Miro Heiskenan. The Stars defense has really helped get them to this point, at some points in the Kraken series carrying Otter to the point where Dallas didn't sink. For Vegas, they've gotten similarly solid production out of guys like Pietrangelo, Theodore, and Zach Whitecloud. Both of these teams have really solid defenses that I think will be forces against one another. If you must give a slight edge, it probably has to go to Vegas here.
For the forwards, it's another close call. For Dallas, guys like Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski have taken it to another absolute level in these playoffs, but Jason Robertson went absolutely cold. He NEEDS to heat up if they want to beat Vegas. He scored zero goals in the Seattle series, which is horrifying. But, the Stars depth continues to impress. I specifically want to note that Wyatt Johnston has had a really solid playoffs, and he is a force when he is on the ice. For Vegas, Jack Eichel has not taken his first playoffs lightly, and if there is a player to watch on this VGK team, it is almost certainly him. Guys like Marchessault, who got a huge hatty against Edmonton in game 6, and Mark Stone, who has been solid all playoffs, will also be huge keys. This Vegas team just has so many producers. That's why I have to give the edge to them in forwards.
Prediction: Stars in 7
Season Series: 3-0 Dallas
The Stars are honestly probably the worst of these two teams on paper. But man, it is hard to watch them play and root against them going on. Yes, Vegas is very similar with its energy, but the Stars are on a different level. I truly think both of these Conference Finals go to 7, and this one especially. If the Knights had Logan Thompson, this prediction would be massively different. But Adin Hill is great, thought I just can't see him being successful in this series. To Vegas though I say, prove me wrong. Either way, this series will be really fun to watch.
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